Dr. Martin Langert is a diabetologist with a practice in the Bocholt medical center. The fraudsters used his name in the prescription fraud. © Stefan Prinz
2 min reading time
A brazen case of fraud is affecting pharmacies in the Bocholt and Borken region. Using a deceptively fake prescription, a fraudster managed to obtain an expensive weight-loss injection that can fetch large sums of money on the black market. The recipe was supposedly from the Bocholt diabetologist Dr. Martin Langert and was redeemed in a Borken pharmacy – without the employees there noticing the fraud.
As diabetologist Dr. Martin Langert – who has his practice in the Bocholt medical center – confirmed to the BBV at the weekend that the fraudster used a fake prescription to obtain the expensive medication. “The recipe looks deceptively real,” explained Langert, pointing out that his signature was also carefully forged. On the document, which claimed to be covered by the AOK health insurance company, the fraudster was identified as an alleged 37-year-old diabetic from Borken – information that initially apparently strengthened the pharmacy’s trust in the authenticity of the prescription.
However, what ultimately drew attention to the fake was, among other things, the doctor’s number. This did not match the correct number from Dr. Langert agrees. A detail that the pharmacy employees had overlooked in their hectic everyday life. The fraudster was apparently targeting the drug, which has a high market value in the industry. “The weight loss injection is worth around 700 euros on the black market,” says Dr. Langert. “This is of course a lucrative business for fraudsters.”
This prescription was submitted to the Borken Pharmacy. The name has been made unrecognizable by the editors.© private
Fraud attempts expected
The pharmacy in question is now faced with a financial loss because the cost of the medication is not covered by the health insurance company. The additional payment of just 10 euros that the fraudster paid is far from covering the actual costs. “The pharmacy is now at a disadvantage and is left with the damage,” confirms Langert. Such a loss hits small pharmacies particularly hard.
The incident is likely to alarm the region’s pharmacy landscape and illustrate how important safety precautions are when handling prescriptions. Dr. Langert explains that, to his knowledge, this is the first incident of its kind in the area in which a prescription related to a weight-loss injection has been forged. But the method could set a precedent. “The business is tempting and I expect further fraud attempts in the coming weeks and months,” warned the doctor.
The diabetologist suspects that the prescription was previously stolen from a doctor’s office. As a rule, such practices have special security measures for handling prescription pads, but theft can never be completely ruled out. “The signature is imitated and the information on the prescription is copied in a deceptively authentic manner. It is increasingly difficult for pharmacies to recognize such counterfeits.”
What is certain is that the case in question in Bocholt and Borken is just the tip of the iceberg – there are already numerous attempts at fraud in pharmacies across Germany related to the expensive syringe.
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